Pollution of aqueous solutions and air is an expanding problem in the modern world. An ever-growing number of toxic pollutants are produced by industries, such as, for example, textile industries, chemical industries, pharmaceutical industries, pulp and paper industries, and food processing plants. The majority of these toxic pollutants are released within two primary fluid physical states: water and air. As the scope of water and air-borne pollutant production increases worldwide, the dangers imposed by these released pollutants on the environment also increases. Additionally, environmental regulations are requiring that these released fluid streams contain less and less pollutants. In fact, some treatment processes that were acceptable options at one point in time are now obsolete because lower treatment standards are required as new environmental regulations are implemented on the state and federal level.
A variety of wastewater purification methods have been developed. Some techniques for removing the contaminants involve use of strong oxidants, which may themselves be hazardous. Other techniques remove the contaminant from the fluid but then release the contaminant into the air or produce a contaminant output, which must be disposed of.